Mike Emrick
Mike "Doc" Emrick (born August 1, 1946 in La Fontaine, Indiana) is an American sportscaster. In the United States, he is one of the most recognized announcers in professional ice hockey. Emrick has been sportscasting since 1973, when he did play-by-play for the IHL Port Huron Flags. In 1977 he became the voice of the AHL Maine Mariners for three seasons before moving up to the parent NHL Philadelphia Flyers. He has been calling NHL hockey games for either the Flyers, New York Rangers (as a substitute for Marv Albert), or for New Jersey Devils ever since. Emrick served as the team's first voice in New Jersey, arriving for the 1982-83 NHL season. He returned to the team to replace Gary Thorne for the 1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs and has been the team's voice ever since. He was the voice of the Philadelphia Flyers from 1988 to 1993. Emrick has also done play-for-play for CBS, NBC, TNT, ESPN, Fox, ABC, CSTV, SportsChannel Philadelphia, PRISM, Fox Sports Net, and others. Emrick has earned a Bachelor's degree in speech from Manchester College in 1964, a Master's degree in radio/television from Miami University (Ohio) in 1969, and a Doctorate in radio/television/film from Bowling Green State University in 1976 (a degree from which he gets his nickname, "Doc"). He received the 2004 Lester Patrick Trophy and worked at that year's Summer Olympics, calling the men's and women's water polo competition. He also was the lead play-by-play man for the 2006 Winter Olympics for men and women's hockey action. Emrick was the lead play-by-play for ESPN National Hockey Night from 1986-1988. He first came to national over the air television doing regional games for NHL on ABC from 1993-1994. In 1995, Emrick became the play-by-play man of Fox NHL Sunday, which was also known (during the glow puck era) as the Foxtrax Game of the Week from 1995-98 (FoxTrax was not used during the 1998-99 season), calling the Stanley Cup Finals for FOX. After FOX relinquished the NHL rights to ABC, he became a regional announcer for The NHL on ABC, in the same backup game role he had at ABC in the early 90s, from 2000-2004. He would only call select playoff games at this time. He is the current primary play by play announcer for the New Jersey Devils for their games on FSN. He works together with Peter McNab and the team is immensely popular with Devils fans. Since the 2005-06 NHL season, Emrick has been the lead play-by-play announcer for The NHL on Versus (formerly The NHL on OLN) and The NHL on NBC, calling the more attractive (as far as market size, for example: Carolina vs. Buffalo in 2006, Anaheim vs. Detroit in 2007) Conference Final and the entire Stanley Cup Finals for both networks. He has called games in 10 Stanley Cup Finals on TV (for ESPN, FOX, OLN/Versus, and NBC). He has also called six NHL All-Star Game for FOX and Versus. With the NHL returning to both networks for next season, he will add one more of each. He called the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for the Prime Network and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey for ESPN. Emrick has done two Olympic Games for NBC and one for CBS. He also called some National Football League and men's NCAA basketball tournament games while at CBS. Emrick is a founding member, and still president of, the NHL Pronunciation Guide, which is used as a guide for all NHL broadcasters for some of hockey's most difficult names. He is Vice President of the NHL Broadcaster's Association, and he is also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Comittee. Memorable Games Called -Game 7, 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, Flyers vs Oilers. The Oilers win their third Cup in four years. (ESPN) -1988 NHL All-Star Game. Mario Lemieux caps a three-goal, six-point night with an overtime goal. (ESPN) -Game 4, 1988 Stanley Cup Finals, Oilers vs Bruins. A power outage at Boston Garden during the second period causes the game to be suspended and re-played in Edmonton two nights later, where the Oilers prevailed to win their fourth Cup in five years. (ESPN) -1992 Winter Olympics Gold Medal Game. The Unified Team defeats Canada 3-1 to win the gold medal. (CBS) -1994 Winter Olympics Gold Medal Game. Peter Forsberg scores his legendary penalty shot goal to give the Swedes the Gold. (CBS) -Game 6, 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, Rangers vs. Devils. Mark Messier publicly guarantees a victory, then scores a hat-trick. (SportsChannel New York) -Game 4, 1995 Stanley Cup Finals, Red Wings vs. Devils. Devils win first Championship. (FOX) -Game 3, 1996 World Cup Final, USA vs Canada. The USA ralies from a third-period deficit to beat Canada 5-2 and win the inagural World Cup of Hockey. (FX) -1997 NHL All-Star Game. Owen Nolan calls his shot on a breakaway for a hat trick in San Jose. (FOX) -Game 1, 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Canadiens vs. Devils. Martin Brodeur scores a goal. (SportsChannel New York) -Game 4, 1998 Western Conference Finals, Stars vs. Red Wings. Vladimir Konstantinov returns to the Joe Louis Arena. (FOX) -April 4, 1999. Easter game as Detroit Red Wings beat Dallas Stars 3-0. (FOX) -April 18, 1999. Wayne Gretzky's final NHL game as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers, 2-1. (FOX) -Game 2, 2004 Western Conference Semifinals, Avalanche vs. Sharks. Jonathan Cheechoo scores between his legs. (ABC) -2006 Winter Olympics Gold Medal Game. Sweden defeats Finland for the Gold in Torino, Italy. (NBC) -Game 7, 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, Oilers vs. Hurricanes. Hurricanes win their first Championship. (NBC) -Game 5, 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, Senators vs. Ducks. Ducks win their first Championship. (NBC) References *"Hockey's Great Voices Echo Through Generations" at NHL.com. Retrieved 10-20-06. *NBC Olympics Commentator Profile. Category:1946 births Category:National Hockey League broadcasters Category:Lester Patrick Trophy recipients Category:Living people Category:Bowling Green State University alumni Category:American sports announcers Category:New Jersey Devils Category:Philadelphia Flyers Category:People from Indiana